Extermination 8.5
Extermination 8.5 is the sixth chapter of Extermination. Laserdream flight, more bug tracking, Leviathan creates a sinkhole and plays with Parian's stuffed animals. Shelter attack, broken back, Bitch is back. Uncomfortable triage procedures. Scion finally shows up. Plot Lady Photon and Laserdream arrive as the assistance promised by the armband communications. The two are visibly traumatised by the deaths of their family members earlier in the fight, reminding Skitter uncomfortably of herself after her mother's death. They come to the agreement that Lady Photon will take Armsmaster while Laserdream takes Skitter, since Laserdream's variant of their very similar powersets has better flight and stronger lasers that will have a better chance of harming Leviathan. While in flight, Skitter determines the enhanced range on her power to put it at close to double its usual radius. Another tidal wave hits, its damage reduced thanks to the ice wall and the various debris strewn around the bay. Skitter feels spooked when they pass over a destroyed shopping centre that is close to her house and worries about the realistic possibility Leviathan might end up attacking a shelter containing her dad. She continues relaying Leviathan's location over Laserdream's armband until she reports the Endbringer has ceased moving, which serves as a prompt for Chevalier to order reinforcements to be teleported in. Skitter and Laserdream catch up to the fight close to Coil's hidden base. Parian is fighting using a set of 'stuffed animals' that have been animated through a form of unusual telekinesis, with precise control over small objects like needles and thread but seemingly clumsy control over the large constructs. The cloth animals act as interferance against Leviathan while Purity, Hookwolf and Browbeat supply some offensive power. Leviathan downs Browbeat with one foot and then uses his afterimage to knock out Parian with the cloth from one of her constructs that has 'deflated'. The remaining animals deflate as Parian falls but Leviathans next attack is stalled by a distraction from Grue's darkness, although Skitter doesn't see him in person. Skitter is unable to locate anyone with the physical power to utilise Armsmaster's nanothorn halberd properly, however a girl with a crossbow that Shadow Stalker refers to as Flechette lands multiple hits that piece deep into Leviathan. Hookwolf and Shadow stalker make the frontal attack, but Hookwolf is torn in two and thrown away, part of him taking Shadow Stalker out of the fight while he reverts to human form and gestures the next front line cape forward. His replacement is a clearly inexperienced woman with flight and a form of close range telekinesis, who Leviathan dodges past to make an attempt to reach Flechette. Trickster intervenes to save Flechette and she proceeds to land more hits into Leviathan's face at the cost of Brandish being downed. Leviathan feigns being severely injured once again, but brings a claw down to the pavement and begins to draw water into a huge crater. Skitter is rescued from being dragged into the depths by Laserdream. who also has saved the unconsious Parian. Leviathan continues sinking the ground, pulling it down to the point that the crater becomes more comparable to a lake in size. While underwater Leviathan moves at a speed Skitter registers as if it is teleportation, and the capes who have been caught in the depths are executed, including the mass teleporter Strider. Eidolon and Myrddin make their return from the coastline to rejoin the fight, though Myrddin is reported downed by Laserdream's armband shortly after. Laserdream puts down Parian away from the lake and then sets off with Skitter to respond to an alert from the armband informing them one of the shelters needs evacuating. The two arrive at the shelter, where the door has been blocked in a half open position by fallen rubble while water is slowly leaking inside. Skitter provides the halberd as a way of getting in quickly and one of the capes already on the scene uses it to cut the door off. Skitter does not see her father among the crowd, but does see Mr Gladly, a chance meeting that unnerves her. As people begin escaping the flooding shelter, Skitter senses Leviathan's arrival. He quickly kills two capes and downs Laserdream, then pushes his way into the shelter and begins massacring civilians. As she slips away from the shelter, Skitter ponders on whether her ignoring Mr Gladly in his time of need here is a fitting mirror to his failure to help her in her time of need with the bullying. She communicates Leviathan's position using an armband, but Chevalier states that with Strider dead it will be hard for backup for arrive. Skitter decides this leaves her with only one option: to be a better person than Mr Gladly. Skitter returns to the shelter and uses Armsmaster's halberd to slash at the base of Leviathan's tail, provoking him into chasing her back into the street. She uses swarm decoys in a desperate attempt to draw his attention from her but she is still struck by a wave of water moving at high enough speed to paralyse her lower body, leaving her helpless face down in the water. Struggling to avoid breathing in any more water into her lungs, She senses through the bugs embedded in Leviathan's wounds as he turns to register another threat. Skitter is hauled out of the water by Bitch and sees eight of Bitch's dogs fighting Leviathan. Leviathan outclasses the dogs significantly and dispatches them one by one. As the last of the dogs fall, Scion makes his arrival, dropping silently out of the sky. Scion lands multiple hits on Leviathan with blasts of golden light that send the Endbringer sprawling across the ground, while easily nullifying Leviathans attacks on him by completely ceasing all momentum of any water Leviathan throws his way using ripples created as he walks in the water. Eidolon arrives, generating a huge wall of ice that blocks off Leviathan and raising spikes of ice that impale and shatter against Leviathan as he lands from one of Scions attacks. Scion pauses to look at Eidolon and despite his expression remaining unchanged still manages to radiate a sense of disgust. Returning his attention to Leviathan, Scion lands a series of attacks that leave the edges of the wounds glowing gold as flesh flakes away. A tidal wave appears but is quickly dealt with by Scion, who uses each of three blasts to flatten each third of the wave. Leviathan uses this chance to make a move that takes him away from where Skitter and Bitch are, followed by Scion and Eidolon. A teleporter arrives and quickly transports Skitter and Laserdream away to a hospital that is in a state of chaos. Skitter is quickly hauled onto a bed and then questioned by a nurse who asks if she is a Villain. After a PRT employee confirms as such, he manacles her wrists to the poles at the ends of the bed, ignoring her protests about her broken arm. The curtains are closed around the bed, leaving her chained up and alone. Major Events *Scion drives off the Endbringer; Battle against Leviathan ends. *Skitter is arrested. Trivia *Parian, a cape with the power to checkmate BehemothPost by Wildbow on Spacebattles shows off her terrifying stuffed animals. *First time we see Scion, the worlds greatest hero in action. Characters Site Navigation Category:Chapters